Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The heat of China and Taiwan made President Xi Jinping open his voice. He asked the military to prepare for a real war.
“Strengthening actual combat-oriented military training” he told the Chinese armed forces (PLA), as reported CCTVloaded AFPWednesday (12/4/2023).
Xi’s comments were revealed during a Chinese naval inspection Tuesday. This comes shortly after China carried out three days of massive military drills aimed at “blockade” Taiwan.
China was outraged by the arrival of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen last week to the United States (US). There Tsai met with a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
“Firmly defend China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime interests, and strive to protect overall peripheral stability,” Xi said CCTV again.
Previously, China conducted military exercises from Saturday to Monday. The drills involved the Shandong aircraft carrier, warships, fighter jets and H-6 bombers.
A video was also released on the WeChat account showing an H-6 bomber flying in what it said was the sky over northern Taiwan. There is also a voice clip believed to be that of a military pilot on duty.
“Missile in good condition,” said a voice showing a picture from the cockpit.
“Turn on fire control radar, target lock,” another voice said, showing an image of a missile under a plane’s wing.
The image then shows a pilot setting up the fire control buttons for what he describes as a “simulated attack”. Then the pilot pressed the button, although it did not indicate any missiles were fired.
In the latest statement Wednesday quoted The Guardian, Tsai Ing Wen gave harsh comments to China. Tsai said her meeting with McCarthy demonstrated Taipei’s commitment to defending democracy in the face of “continued authoritarian expansion”.
“Through this trip we are again sending a message to the international community that Taiwan is determined to protect the freedom and democracy that our democratic partners recognize and support,” he told visiting Canadian lawmakers at his Taipei office.
quoted CNN International, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu condemned Beijing’s actions in an exclusive interview. He warned that “China does appear to be trying to prepare to launch a war against Taiwan”.
“Look at the military drills, as well as their rhetoric, they seem to be trying to prepare to launch a war against Taiwan,” Wu said.
“Taiwan’s government views China’s military threat as something unacceptable and we condemn it,” he added.
China considers Taiwan part of its country. The US itself, although it does not recognize Taiwan as a country because of the one-China concept, is the main supporter of the island.
In fact, economically, Taiwan is dependent on China. Quoting data statista.comthe value of goods exports from Taiwan to China in the last five years 2017-2021 has continued to increase.
In 2017, the value of Taiwan’s exports to China reached US$88.75 billion. That figure continued to grow in 2018 to a value of US$96.5 billion.
The value of Taiwan’s exports to China fell slightly in 2019 to US$91.79 billion. But it jumped again in 2020 to US $ 102.45 billion.
China’s anger also occurred when the previous Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, came to Taipei 2022. In addition to deploying military exercises, China forbids the import of oranges, shellfish, frozen mackerel, including sugar, biscuits and bread from Taiwan.
(sef/sef)
